


Cracks in the Foundation

by macaroni_rascal



Category: Pitch (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt No Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-08-28 06:24:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8435023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/macaroni_rascal/pseuds/macaroni_rascal
Summary: After the third straight to voicemail Mike was beginning to get antsy. In which Mike wants to talk to Ginny and Ginny does not want to talk to Mike. But they end up talking anyway.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Small fic, most likely in three chapters -- I have not written in a while and it is not beta'd, all mistakes are mine! If you find typos, let me know. 
> 
> First fic for Pitch, but highly doubt its going to be the last!

After the third straight to voicemail Mike was beginning to get antsy. 

The only time Baker had ever failed to answer his call had been because she was in the shower, and she had quickly called him back within ten minutes and he got an unintended visual of a wet and naked Ginny Baker as a consequence. Mike highly doubts the reason behind the current radio silence is anywhere near as ordinary. 

When Blip had asked him why he hadn’t told Ginny about him and Amelia, the pithy “I don’t know” he’d thrown back had left a bad taste in his mouth. There was no doubt that him and Baker had a special relationship – but that was usual between pitcher and catcher. There was undeniably something else between them. He certainly didn’t talk for hours over the phone with any of the other pitchers he’d played with over the course of his career. 

His rookie had more influence over him than he was ready to admit to himself, or to anyone, least of all Blip – who would no doubt tell Evelyn, who would tell Ginny. He thinks he should have tried harder to dissuade Sanders from deducing his current romantic entanglement but he couldn’t waste time on that now. What happened, happened, and he just wanted to talk to Baker as soon as possible about him and Amelia. Amelia was easy – to an extent. He enjoyed her company, she was single, and she was close and would continue to be for the foreseeable future, which was why it was so imperative he speak with Ginny.

If he was being honest with himself he’d admit that the idea of Ginny not answering his calls was causing him infinitely more distress than the whole groupie situation had with Amelia. Baker wasn’t just his pitcher. She was more than Mike wanted to admit and that’s what scared him.

He went back and forth over whether or not he should call her again for far longer than he’d cared to think about. He felt like a damn teenager again. He sat staring at her name in his phone for a full ten minutes debating the pros and cons of calling her a fourth time. He decided that it would just be pathetic at this point and he was going to be seeing Ginny soon for the game anyway. He could talk to her there, he would make sure they were okay and explain that he and Amelia wouldn’t change anything between them, or their rapidly intensifying friendship.

“Get your shit together, Lawson.” He whispered to himself as he arrived at the stadium. 

He shouldn’t be worried about seeing his Rookie, he shouldn’t be worried his relationship with Amelia would change anything, but he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Over the course of their phone calls, they’d talked about a lot of things. Ginny never explicitly said that she never had any friends growing up but it was obvious. The lack of stories of anything besides baseball and her dad – the odd tidbit about her brother, it was clear she had been a lonely kid. What she became and how hard she’s worked is only one of the many reason Mike Lawson continues to be floored by Ginny Baker. 

He knew she was seen as a product, a commodity, by so many of the people in her life and he was happy that he didn’t fall under that category to her. He was her catcher, her captain and her friend and those were the boxes he was comfortable being placed in. He knew Ginny liked Amelia, saw her as a friend and that they were closer than most agents and clients were, but it wasn’t the same a friend who chose to be with her just to be with her. 

As he walked into the clubhouse he realized that the thought of Baker thinking of him as anything less than her catcher, her captain, or her friend made him feel like his stomach was filled with lead. He would explain to her that their friendship existed, and would continue to exist, outside of his relationship with Amelia and that everything was fine, that she had no reason to worry. His rookie was nothing if not pragmatic, she would understand and they would find their rhythm again.

He also didn’t let himself think that a few unanswered phone calls meant they were off balance, but they had established something solid between them and he didn’t like the feeling that the foundation was starting to crack beneath his feet.

When he saw the large curtain that gave Baker her privacy was open and sans-rookie he did a cursory sweep of the clubhouse. She was sitting with Blip, an easy smile on her face as they chatted amiably with each other.

He tried to will her to look up at him so he wouldn’t have to go over and interrupt them. Blip knew too about him and Amelia and he didn’t want anything else being shared before he got his word in. Ginny was already dealing with one friend lying to her, he didn’t want to add Blip to that list. One friend was enough, she didn’t need a second. Well, three, he supposed, if he counted Amelia, and he wasn’t sure if he should.

Her eyes finally met his and the smile that graced her face froze and she tensed ever so slightly, she nodded once at him then turned back to Blip and fell back into their conversation.

Mike’s shoulder drooped as he scanned the rest of the players, all in general states of readiness to make sure no one witnessed the odd tension between the pitch and catcher. Luckily, they were all distracted with themselves and the game they were about to go play, as he should have been. 

So why was he thinking about how to get Ginny alone before the game started? 

He needed to regroup, compartmentalize – play the game to the best of his ability, help Ginny keep playing her best and keep the Padres on their winning streak. 

As soon as the game ended though, he was going to find Ginny and talk to her because he knew he wouldn’t get a moments peace until he did. 

So that’s exactly what he did.

His rookie was mechanical with her pitches and with him. She didn’t wave him off once, did everything she was supposed to do, gave him no reason to call time and run up to the mound to discuss anything. They played well, won the game, and kept their streak. 

She was already gone by the time he made it back into the clubhouse, he changed quickly, foregoing his ice bath, and made his way to the hotel where Baker was staying during the season. While on the elevator up to Ginny’s floor his phone dinged. It was a text from Amelia wondering about plans for the night, he quickly pocketed his phone as the doors opened and told himself he would answer as soon as he spoke with Baker. He didn’t know how long it was going to take to talk to his rookie, and he’d rather not be over hasty planning anything.

The usual suits that stayed propped outside Ginny’s room were nowhere to be seen, and Mike had a sinking feeling that meant her room would be empty.

He knocked anyway.

There was no answer, he put his ear to the door and shouted her name a couple times for good measure. The pit in his stomach was slowly growing into a sickening feeling that was making him feel more and more unsteady. He was worried he was going to be swallowed whole by the unknown emotion that had been stuck with him since Amelia told him that Ginny was officially in the know about their relationship.

If Baker wasn’t in her hotel room, and not in the clubhouse there were two possible places she would be: the gym or Blip and Evelyn’s, the latter being the post probable. He sent a quick text to Blip asking what his plans were for the night. Why he felt the need to not ask about his rookie directly, he also didn’t want to think about.

After a text from Blip saying him, Evelyn and the boys were having a family night in, he quickly tried calling Ginny again as he made his way back to the elevator.

Hand shaking slightly as he pulled up her name in his phone, he held his breath as the shrill ringing filled his ears.

After the fourth ring, she picks up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mike still wants to talk to Ginny...sort of; and Ginny still definitely does not want to talk to Mike.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter two, just in time for Pitch day!
> 
> The last chapter will be up on the weekend most likely!
> 
> Once again, not beta'd so any typos or mistakes are mine. Let me know what you think!

“Ginny Baker’s phone!” A jovial masculine voice answers.

Before Mike can get even get a word out he hears his rookie’s angry voice near the phone asking Will – he realizes this must be Baker’s brother – to give her back her damn phone. He hears what sounds like a struggle, a few slaps and a loud laugh from the man on the other line then a sharp “hey” before Ginny finally spoke into the phone.

“What do ya need, Lawson?” Ginny’s voice is hard and a little winded from the skirmish she no doubt just won.

“Jesus, Baker, you’re a hard woman to get a hold of, you now that?” He tries to keep his voice light but there is a tension that’s more than apparent and he laughs a little too high to sound completely at ease. 

There is a pregnant pause on the line and Mike realizes he’s holding his breath as the awkward silence between them grows cavernous.

“So what do you need, Lawson?” She asks again, her voice now sounding tired with a hint of annoyed exasperation.

Mike should have realized that actually getting in contact with Ginny meant that he was actually going to talk to Ginny. He just wanted it to be face to face instead of over the phone, he feels like being able to look his rookie in the eye when he explains himself was paramount. She needs to believe him and see that he is serious about being someone she can trust. 

Because so far Ginny Baker doubting his intentions did not sit well with him. At all.

Will is yelling in the background again about something and Ginny yells back that she’ll be there in a second. 

“Lawson?” She prompts again, more impatient this time.

“Shit, Baker, I just wanted to talk to you about a few things but if you’re busy I can let you go,” he regrets the words as they leave his mouth but he feels so far out of his depth that he’s instinctually trying to get the hell out of this conversation before he causes more damage that he already has. 

He hears Ginny sigh softly through the phone and closes his eyes wishing that this situation had played out in any other way.

When she answers a second later her voice is just a soft as her sigh.

“Yeah, Lawson, you can let me go.”

“Gin—“ 

The line cuts out before he finishes saying her name and Mike is almost positive he hasn’t felt so helpless in a long time. Not since he found out Rachel has cheated. Not since he got the official diagnosis from his doctor that his career as major league baseball player officially had a foreseeable deadline.

He realizes he’s still standing in the hallway of the hotel and quickly makes his way back to the elevators cursing himself under his breath the entire ride down. 

If Mike had any kind of self-preservation he would act like nothing had changed and just let this pass over, which it hopefully would, sooner rather than later. Baker clearly would rather not talk about it and who was he to force her to do something she didn’t want to do? 

When Mike got back to his car he pulled out his phone to text Amelia back, saying that he and a couple teammates already had plans for the night and that they would talk tomorrow. He sat with his arms over his steering wheel for a few minutes while he tried to calm himself down. If he was as big of an asshole as he tried to be sometimes, he would say that this is why women weren’t allowed in the major leagues. Unfortunately for him, Mike admitted that this entire situation was essentially his own fault and that Ginny Baker was just an unwitting participant in his own bullshit drama. 

Mike remembered leaving the bar after watching Baker laugh and dance in the club – the unnamed emotion coursing through him making him impulsive and childish. He wasn’t just jealous of all the people laughing and dancing with her, he was jealous of her drive, of her talent, of her burgeoning career. Ginny Baker was a physical manifestation of everything he was slowly loosing and everything he used to be. Just so happened that that manifestation had dimples that made his heart melt, an intoxicating and wonderful personality his own and an ass so perfect he wanted to write sonnets about it.

So, like the goddamn idiot he was, he placed himself somewhere that would inevitably lead to allowing Ginny to see what he really was, who he really was. He was a selfish, narcissistic bastard – had been for most of his life.

Head still on the steering wheel, his phone dinged with a reply from Amelia, she told him to have fun and that she’d see him at the park tomorrow. 

He thinks about all those little girls that are looking up to his rookie, all those women that feel represented in a place they were only ever excluded, thinks of all the people she inspires by simply just existing. In what world could old, cranky, veteran Mike Lawson do for Ginny Baker that she couldn’t do herself better and more impressively?

When he first started helping her he was annoyed – he didn’t want or need a girl in his clubhouse, distracting his players, and being nothing more than a spectacle to put asses in seats. He gave her a speech during her first dame just because she needed to hear what she needed to hear if they had any chance of getting through the inning. That first strike she threw, he felt is run up his hand, into his arm and straight through his whole body. 

That pitch was the first spark between them, he’s being feeling the ramification of that pitch ever since. They fell into their relationship so swiftly after that, they talked on the bus about her arm, she started trusting him more and more and each game they got better and better. 

She had his poster on her wall. Apparently, she was his biggest fan. How can he begin to explain to her that he’s her biggest fan too?

By the time Al called time, came up to the mound and pulled her – he knew she was already going to be legendary. With an arm, a will, and the drive she had, there was nothing Ginny Baker couldn’t do. Fuck him if it wasn’t intimidating and motivating as all hell. He was just lucky to be breathing the same air, let alone playing with, what would become one of the greatest legends of the game.

Did she think that’s all she was to him? Just a meal ticket to make him more legendary than he already was? Did she think that he wanted to get close and stay close to just put himself near the glory that accompanied her? What if she was second guessing him and everything they’d talked about and done? 

Did she think every time he asked about her own well being that he was just gathering intel to report back to Amelia?

He wasn’t known as the sincerest of people, he was sarcastic and brash – loudly vapid and opinionated, but if there was one word to describe his feelings for his rookie, it was genuine. Yes, he was lucky to even be around her, but he was amazed by who she was, not just what she could do. He was in awe. 

Fuck this. He was not going to let himself ruin something he knew was worth fighting for. 

And Ginny Baker was worth fighting for.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny and Mike finally talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter! Sorry it took so long, I hurt my finger and couldn't type for a couple weeks and life got in the way.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

He’s not a chaser. When a woman rejects him he respects it and doesn’t try and win her over or try and make some grand gesture. He may show up drunk and sad, looking for something he thinks he needs but he doesn’t chase after anyone. 

He is a big speech kind of guy. One and done. Bears it all, and then what happens, happens. He lets the chips fall where they may even if it hurts like hell, even if he feels physically sick and like the world is crashing down around him. He could probably chalk that up to realizing his dad never fought for him, so why should he fight for anyone else? If his own father didn’t think he was important enough to make a real effort for? It’s just not Mike’s style. 

Three days after he vows to fight for Ginny, they have a game. He is going to get her alone before it starts; he wants as much time as he can get and as much privacy as the clubhouse can offer. He’s doesn’t want to admit that he’s just a little too scared to search for her outside of the stadium. After the horribly embarrassing stalking situation to her hotel room and the less than successful phone call, he wants home-field advantage. 

He feels confident in the clubhouse, it’s where he is king, everything the light touches and all that. 

He’s found by Ginny, where he expected her to go: the gym. He thinks he should have made it a little less obvious than sitting on the end of her preferred treadmill but he’s way past that at this point. It should make him feel nervous and grumpy but he mostly feels grateful she’s there. 

She looks confused when she spots him. Her eyes a little reserved and there is a slight furrow in her brow like she’s bracing herself for something. Nothing at all like the way she greeted him last week, with a wide smile and a dig at his age before challenging him to see who could do the most burpees before falling over. 

“Baker.” He says in a gruffer voice than he’d like. He stands as quickly as he can, his knees protesting dully and cracking when he heaves himself off the treadmill. 

She takes her headphones off and drops them along with her gym bag and just raises an eyebrow at him, he’s still standing in front of the treadmill, blocking her path.

He thinks that all he’s done lately: block her path. All he wants is to clear the way for her, make it as easy as possible for Ginny Baker to be the legend she’s quickly becoming. She’s fought so hard, harder than he’s seen anyone fight for anything and he just wishes he could give her a break, give her peace, give her support. He’d roll out a damn red carpet if he could and fuck he feels like such an idiot standing in front of her hoping this conversation, if nothing else, gets him back in her good graces. 

“I’m going to end things with Amelia” he says quickly, which is not at all part of the speech he prepared but it just comes out so he rolls with it. 

Ginny lets out a little incredulous laugh and rolls her eyes slightly.

Not promising.

“So you don’t tell me when you guys are together, but you let me know it ended? You’re doing things a little backwards here, Lawson.”

Mike wants to grab her and tell her that he’s felt a little backwards since the moment she became a Padre. She surprised him during their first conversation and he’s been playing catch-up ever since. Trying to exist in a new world. A Ginny-filled world. 

He smiles a little and scratches his beard partly out of habit, partly out of nervousness. He’s realizing once again, his plan is out the window and Ginny Baker is running the show.

“Yeah well, I try not to be predictable. Keeps everyone on their toes.” He’s talking so far out of his ass right now he’s surprised Ginny can’t smell it on him. 

She squints at him and crosses her arms over her chest, levelling him with a look that makes him think she knows exactly what he’s doing. His skin starts to feel itchy.

“Wait, you said that you are going to end things with Amelia? As in you haven’t yet?”

He doesn’t know if she’s angry or just confused. Her voice is full in disbelief and her eyebrows have steadily risen higher and higher on her forehead. 

He laughs again. He has to stop laughing.

“Well – ” he’s cut off.

“As in you are telling me you’re going to break up with her before you told her? Am I understanding this right, Lawson?” 

Now she does sound angry, and not one to be upstaged Mike raises his voice right back.

“I’m just trying to make things right! Jesus Baker!” His hands land on his hips and he glares just as hard at her as she is glaring at him. 

The picture they must make right now, Ginny with anger and disappointment in her eyes, arms crossed and resistant and Mike with his hands on his hips, a furrowed brow and breathing a little heavier than normal. He looks away for a moment to gather his bearings and regroup. The situation feels out of his control again and he’s at the mercy of a 23 year old rookie.

“So you think you did something wrong?” Her voice is inquiring, no heat behind the words at all. He looks back at her and she’s fiddling with her hands, not looking at him. 

Mike Lawson does not like being wrong, in fact he almost never is. The fights and arguments he has gotten into with umpires and other players over unnecessary errors, bad calls, and general disagreement is proof enough. Knowing you’re wrong and admitting you are wrong are two very different things but Mike told himself he would fight for Ginny and that’s what he was going to do.

He heaves a sigh and wills her to meet his eyes. When she won’t he sighs again and takes a few steps closer to her. 

“I think I made a mistake.” His prays his voice is even enough for her not to suspect he feels like he’s dying a little bit inside. He is precariously close to grabbing Ginny’s hand and forcing eye contact.

At that, she looks up at him.

He thinks she’s chewing on the inside of her lip because her mouths screws up a little and she looks pensive. There are a few heavy seconds between them and he feels like a sinner standing before a holy figure asking for absolution. 

The knot in his stomach starts to loosen when she begins to nod her head slowly at him, her eyes smiling at him before her mouth follows. Then her face falls again and he feels for a second the ground has opened up. The power this woman has over him would be infuriating if he felt anything other than gratitude she was in his life at all. 

“You definitely should not have told me you’re breaking up with Amelia before you told her. You essentially did the same thing to her that you did to me, Mike.” Ginny looks at him with more disappointment and it coils something in him. 

“It’s not the same thing though, is it?” Mike says quickly, stepping closer again. He’s only about a foot away from her. 

Her eyebrows jump at his question. He shifts slightly from foot to foot and her arms finally uncross. He takes it for the small victory he hopes it is. 

He takes a deep breath. This is his moment.

“Look, Baker. I’m sorry for not being honest with you, alright? I’m your catcher and you’re my pitcher, and we need to be honest with each other. We are all each other has when we’re playing out there, we depend on each other, and we need to be on the same side, not just on the same team.”

She’s looking more and overwhelmed by his words but he’s already started and there is no way he can stop now, he takes a half step closer and levels her with an open a look as possible. 

“But more than that Ginny, you’re my friend and you’re important to me. I didn’t want to hurt you I just wanted to distract myself.” He doesn’t add that he was distracting himself from her, her smile, her carefree dancing, her everything. “I was distracting myself when I should have been focusing on the most important relationship in my life, which is the one I have with you.”

Ginny looks frozen. Her eyes had steadily widened as he went on, and now she was just standing in front of him, eyes as big as saucers and not breathing. Not the exact reaction he was hoping for but it was better than her not listening at all. She broke eye contact first, dropping her head down to look at her hands again. He saw her squeeze her eyes closed as she took a big breath of air before meeting his eyes again.

“Can I tell you a not-so-secret secret?” She says in a light voice. 

He wants whatever he’ll give her at this point so he follows her lead, takes a big breath to steady himself for whatever she says next and nods more confidently than he feels.

She smiles at him sincerely for the first time in too long.

“I did have a poster of you on my wall.”

His mouth drops open, not at all expecting that.

She keeps speaking and he’s almost certain he’s going fall over with how relieved he is.

“I think I may have put you on a bit of a pedestal. Not that you didn’t crack the perfect image I had created the first day when you slapped my ass and called me less pretty than Leonardo DiCaprio, but still.”

He huffs out a laugh and looks away from her, enjoying the memory. 

“Baker, I don’t think I called you less pretty—”

“But,” she interrupts him, “I still had this idea in my mind of what it would be like to pitch with the Mike Lawson. The reality was better than what I had imagined and I think I got a little protective of that. I think I also got a little paranoid at the thought you two talking about me. People don’t see me a lot of the time, they see me a meal ticket, or a prop, or a fraud, or something to handle. You never looked at me like that and I didn’t want to lose that.”

Now he’s the one staring at her, completely overwhelmed. His hands are shaking at his sides just a little bit and he clenches them and unclenches them to try and calm himself down. 

She sighs again, hunches her shoulders and smiles at him like they have an inside joke.

“So I guess we both made mistakes.” She says, finally looking at him like she normally did, “I just want to be your pitcher.”

The knot inside him dissipates completely, his hands stop shaking and he feels calm for the first time in days.

“Don’t worry Baker, I’ll catch whatever you throw at me. I’m your catcher. That’s what I do.”

They smile at each other and Mike realizes how close they’ve gotten. He desperately wants to hug her, but they haven’t really done that yet so he’s hesitant. They’ve had group hugs with other teammates after a win, or a quick hug after a homerun, a one armed hug once in the clubhouse after a particularly difficult game surrounded by other players, but nothing one on one and nothing anywhere near as loaded as a hug between them would be right now.

Mike honestly thinks if he gets to hold this woman he won’t want to let go. 

Luckily she takes the option off the table by smiling at him once more and side-stepping around him to pick up her gym bag and headphones. He turns as she steps onto the treadmill. 

“Think you can keep up, old man?” She presses the power button and starts a slow walk.

His immediate thought is “there is no way in hell” but he smiles back at her, jumps on the treadmill to her right and matches her speed.

“If I do, will you tell me which poster of me you had on your wall?”

She groans and laughs loudly, hanging her head before turning the speed up and going from a walk to a light jog.

“Sure, Lawson,” she says with a wry smile, “if you can outrun me I’ll tell you which poster it was.”

He gives her a wide smile and she grins back, she presses the little arrow on the treadmill until she can run comfortably. 

He follows her lead.


End file.
